Spatial gradients of OCPs in European butter--integrating environmental and exposure information.

The Stockholm Convention and the Global Monitoring Plan encourage the production of monitoring data to effectively evaluate the presence of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in all regions, in order to identify changes in levels over time, as well as to provide information on their regional and global environmental transport. Here, we report the first step of two to investigate whether butter is a feasible matrix to screen with the purpose to reflect regional ambient atmospheric air levels of POPs. The first step described here is to generate monitoring data; the second is to investigate the relationship between the two matrixes, i.

Seasonality of PCDD/Fs in the ambient air of Malopolska region, southern Poland.

Background, Aim, And Scope: The aim of the study was to identify the impact of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and furan (PCDD/F) emission sources on ambient air concentrations in the Malopolska Region, southern Poland. Three sites were selected: the city center of Krakow (Aleje), an industrial area (Nova Huta), and a rural site (Zakopane). In order to investigate the annual variations of PCDD/F sources, summer and winter time samples were taken.

Levels of PCDD/Fs and trace elements in superficial soils of Pavia Province (Italy).

Trace elements and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were analyzed in soils from rural and light-industrialized sites (n = 168) of Province of Pavia (Northern Italy). Most of the trace element values fit in typical ranges of concentrations in soils and are similar to the ones reported for rural sites in Italy or sites with no direct anthropogenic impact. Total concentrations of 2,3,7,8 chlorine substituted PCDD/Fs in superficial soils ranged between 24.

Organochlorine residue levels in livers of birds of prey from Spain: inter-species comparison in relation with diet and migratory patterns.

Livers from 130 specimens corresponding to 18 species of raptors from Spain were analysed for persistent organochlorine (OC) residues. In all species, p,p'-DDE was the most abundant individual OC compound detected, with geometric means ranging from 61 to 40,086 ng/g ww. The geometric mean for summation operator PCB ranged from 225 to 9184 ng/g ww.

Occurrence of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in Lake Maggiore (Italy and Switzerland).

Samples of air (gas and particulate phases), bulk deposition, aquatic settling material and sediments were collected in Lake Maggiore (LM) in order to determine their content of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Air (gas and particulate phases) concentrations were 0.5 pg m(-3), 80 pg m(-3), 13 pg m(-3) and 106 pg m(-3) for SigmaPCDD/Fs, SigmaPCBs, Sigma dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs) and SigmaPBDEs, respectively.

Estrogenic activity associated with organochlorine compounds in fish extracts from European mountain lakes.

Fish muscle extracts from ten European mountain lakes were analyzed for organochlorine compounds (OCs) and estrogenic activity, the latter by a recombinant yeast assay based on the human estrogen receptor. Seventy percent of the samples showed estrogenic activity above detection limits and a subset of five samples showed estrogenic activities, equivalent to more than 10,000 pg/g of estradiol. These highly estrogenic samples occurred in two lakes, Velké Hinçovo in the Tatra Mountains and Redon in the Pyrenees.

Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the food web of a high mountain lake, Pyrenees, Catalonia, Spain.

We investigated the contents of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the food web organisms included in the diet of brown trout from a remote mountain lake. The preferential habitat and trophic level of the component species have been assessed from the signature of stable isotopes (delta13C and delta15N). Subsequently, the patterns of accumulation and transformation of these hydrocarbons in the food chain have been elucidated.

The roles of food and water in the bioaccumulation of organochlorine compounds in high mountain lake fish.

An integrated study encompassing the distribution of organochlorine compounds (OC) in water, food web (chironomids, terrestrial insects, cladocerans, mollusks, and cyanobacteria), and fish (brown trout) from a high mountain lake (Redon, Pyrenees) is reported. OC distributions in these compartments have been determined to assess theirtransport routes into fish. Food diets have been estimated by analysis of fish stomach content and food web stable isotopes (delta13C and delta15N).

Polybromodiphenyl ether flame retardants in fish from lakes in European high mountains and Greenland.

Individual polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were investigated in liver and muscle tissue of trout from 11 high mountain lakes in Europe and one in Greenland. Trouts in these lakes [brown trout (Salmo trutta), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus)] are important sentinel species because they are located in the top of the food chain and pollution can only reach these ecosystems by atmospheric transport. The major PBDE congeners were BDE 47 and BDE 99, followed by BDE 100, BDE 153, BDE 154, and BDE 28.

Influence of altitude and age in the accumulation of organochlorine compounds in fish from high mountain lakes.

The analysis of hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorocyclohexanes, polychlorobiphenyls, and DDTs in muscle of fish from high mountain lakes shows that a proportion of their concentration variance depends on fish age and lake altitude. Interestingly, the magnitude of this share corresponds linearly with the log-transformed vapor pressure (Vp) of the organochlorine compounds (OC). Thus, the distributions of OC with Vp < 10(-2.

Method for integrated analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine compounds in fish liver.

An analytical method for integrated analysis of organochlorine compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in large numbers of fish liver samples has been developed using one single clean-up step. Tissues are homogenized with anhydrous sodium sulphate and Soxhlet extracted with n-hexane-dichloromethane (4:1, v/v) for 24 h. The extracts are cleaned-up and fractionated with an alumina chromatographic column allowing the separation of the extracts in two fractions.